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March, 2011:

Pit Stop

Mar 16th, 2011
by G.
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The Toddler "Pit Stop" in my Kitchen

Capone has 2 potties.  In theory one is his bathroom upstairs and one is in the downstairs bathroom, but in reality one is probably parked next to his race car or in the middle of the living room or being used as a stool in the kitchen.  And just last night, I caught him wearing one on his head as a hat.  We aren’t really potty training, but we talk about the potty A LOT.  He’s even asked to wear his big boy training pants for short periods of time and occasionally asks to sit on his potty.

Tonight, though, we had a major potty breakthrough.  We aren’t actively potty training, but we talk about the potty a lot.  Capone ran in the bathroom, plopped himself down on the potty (without being asked) and peed.  He was so proud of himself.  We clapped and cheered and got M&Ms (and quickly emptied the potty before he flung it across the room).

I don’t know if this is the beginning of a trend or fluke, but if the toddler pit stop in my kitchen is going to help us move out of diapers, I think I can live with it a little longer.

 

CSA: Local and Global

Mar 15th, 2011
by G.
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Last spring, I really wanted to join a CSA (community supported agriculture ) program.  I researched and researched and by the time I found one, Henry was full, so we went on the waiting list for this year.  Fast-forward to February and I was delighted to discover an email one morning telling us that we were officially offered a spot for for 26 weeks of organic produce.

I was beyond excited and have been trying to figure out how I can manage to blog about this adventure in our currently hectic lives.  And to be honest, I’m still not sure how that’s going to work out.

The irony of this move to eat locally, it that it has also taken us across the world to Japan.  We talk about our farmer Henry a lot.  He sends us emails about the farm, we follow him on Facebook and mostly we talk about him to get Capone ready* for the diet and lifestyle change that will be coming in a few weeks (10 lbs of produce a week doesn’t leave much room in the fridge for Goldfish).

And while we are getting to know our food better, we are also getting a inside look in the tragedy in Japan.  Henry’s family is from Japan and his daughter is currently an exchange student in Tokyo.  We’ve been fortunate to get updates about Zoe through her blog but today her story was picked up by the Chicago Tribune.   So our CSA experience has started by showing us the local thousands of miles away.

*Thanks to lots of talking and reading about farms, Capone thinks he knows all about Henry.  Although his version of Henry’s Farm includes a train, apples, and an octopus in addition to the usual farm equipment.